Rajitha Wickremasinghe

University of Kelaniya · Faculty of Medicine

This study aimed to develop a regression equation to predict physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) using accelerometry. Children aged 11–13 years were recruited and randomly assigned to validation (n = 54) and cross-validation (n = 25) groups. The doubly labelled water (DLW) technique was used to assess energy expenditure and accelerometers w...

Background Burnout has negative implications on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) as well as on patient care. Changes encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic would have aggravated burnout among HCWs. Resilience (the ability to recover from adversity) may buffer against psychological sequelae of burnout. Aims To determine the prevalen...

Background Anopheles stephensi is an invasive mosquito in Sri Lanka that can potentially transmit malaria. The transmission intensity is linked with biology, bionomic and behavioral aspects of a vector that are associated with the Vectorial Capacity (VC). However, the influence of larval conditions eventually affects the vectorial potential of An....

International travel, a major risk factor for imported malaria, has emerged as an important challenge in sustaining malaria elimination and prevention of its reestablishment. To make travel and trade safe, the WHO adopted the International Health Regulations (IHR) which provides a legal framework for the prevention, detection, and containment of pu...

Background Anopheles stephensi was first recorded in the coastal area of Mannar District, Sri Lanka, in December 2016. Since then, this vector has been isolated from other districts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Chemical control is the main arm of vector control that can be used to reduce the vector densities within a short pe...

Background Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. People with higher resilience generally report lower levels of mental health problems. Although a few relatively lengthy self-report measures of resilience have been validated in the Sinhala and Tamil languages earlier, validating...

Background Malaria was endemic in Sri Lanka for centuries and was eliminated in 2012. It is widely assumed that the costs of elimination are generally greater than that of control. The costs of malaria elimination in Sri Lanka with that of malaria control in the past using periods in which starting transmission dynamics were similar were compared....

Background: Multisite musculoskeletal pain is common and disabling. This study aimed to prospectively investigate distribution of musculoskeletal pain anatomically, and explore risk factors for increases/reductions in the number of painful sites. Methods: Using data from participants working in 45 occupational groups in 18 countries, we explored...

Background Anopheles stephensi is a newly invaded vector in Sri Lanka. It has been identified in coastal areas in the northern and eastern parts of the country and evidences the ability to breed in brackish water environments. Methods Laboratory investigations were conducted with batches of 100 first and third instar larvae exposed to a salinity g...

Air pollution is a multifaceted environmental toxin affecting the Central Nervous System (CNS) through diverse pathways. The CNS of young children is particularly susceptible to the detrimental effects of toxins, as brain development continues postnatally with the formation of interneuronal connections, glial cell proliferation and myelination of a...

For years Sri Lankan Audiologists resorted to western norms in the interpretation of Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) in the absence of national standards. The study focused on establishing normative data on ABR for Sri Lankan children below 5 years. ABR was performed on 258 healthy children between 6 weeks and 5 years of age to gather data on abs...

The endemic strain of Leishmania donovani in Sri Lanka causes cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) rather than more common visceral form. We have visualized biofilms and profiled the microbiome of lesions and unaffected skin in thirty-nine CL patients. Twenty-four lesions (61.5%) were biofilm-positive according to fluorescence in situ hybridization. Biopsi...

Adolescents continue to be exposed to alcohol marketing, despite the existence of alcohol control policies in Sri Lanka. National‐level policies restrict all forms of alcohol advertising, promotions, and sponsorship and sale to minors. The act calls for the need to protect children and adolescents from exposure to the harm of alcohol. This article...

Sri Lanka reported the last case of indigenous malaria in October 2012, and received malaria-free certification from WHO in September 2016. Malaria cases have since, shifted from indigenous to imported, and the country remains receptive and vulnerable to malaria. A case-based epidemiological study was conducted on all imported malaria cases reporte...

Background: Anopheles stephensi is a primary vector for urban malaria transmission. Three biotypes of An. stephensi could be identified, as type, intermediate, and mysorensis, distinguished by egg morphology. Since each type has a different vectorial potential, the characterization of biological types is useful for identifying the entomological pot...

Background: Anopheles stephensi is a newly invaded mosquito species in Sri Lanka, which has a high vectorial potential for malaria transmission. First reported from the coastal area of Mannar District, now, this species is being reported from several districts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including the Jaffna District. Objective: To eval...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in Sri Lanka. Giemsa-stained slit-skin-smears (SSS-Giemsa) and histology are routinely used in diagnosis with a sensitivity of 40–70%. PCR currently has limited accessibility. Therefore, we assessed the sensitivity and specificity of a previously described fluorescence in situ hybridization assay, on skin sme...

Background: Malaria vectors breed in clean, clear, and sunlit water habitats. Recent studies evidenced that they can breed in brackish and polluted water. Breeding of Anopheles mosquitoes in sites, that are exceptional from typical habitats, is of ecological and epidemiological significance, since it plays a key role in determining their ecological...

Background Sri Lanka sustained its malaria-free status by implementing, among other interventions, three core case detection strategies namely Passive Case Detection (PCD), Reactive Case Detection (RACD) and Proactive Case Detection (PACD). The outcomes of these strategies were analysed in terms of their effectiveness in detecting malaria infection...

Background Sri Lanka sustained its malaria-free status by implementing, among other interventions, three core case detection strategies. The outcomes of these strategies - namely Passive Case Detection (PCD) and, under the overall strategy of Active Case Detection (ACD), Reactive Case Detection (RACD) and Proactive Case Detection (PACD) - were anal...

Background Sri Lanka sustained its malaria-free status by implementing, among other interventions, three core case detection strategies namely Passive Case Detection (PCD), Reactive Case Detection (RACD) and Proactive Case Detection (PACD). The outcomes of these strategies were analysed in terms of their effectiveness in detecting malaria infection...

Introduction and objectives Social media use has been growing exponentially among adolescents worldwide. Different social media platforms are being used as vehicles for digital marketing to promote unhealthy commodities including alcohol to young people. This study describes the association between social media use and drinking among school going a...

Introduction: With escalating incidence of road traffic crashes (RTCs), related injuries and deaths in Sri Lanka, understanding its burden on vulnerable road users such as older people and people with disability have important implications for traffic injury prevention and transport policy planning. Objectives: To determine crash characteristics an...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on other health programmes in countries, including on malaria, and is currently under much discussion. As many countries are accelerating efforts to eliminate malaria or to prevent the re-establishment of malaria from recently eliminated countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to cause...

Objective: Alcohol is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years among 15- to 19-year-olds globally; yet, social and structural determinants of alcohol use among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries are largely unknown. Given that a quarter of the global adolescent population lives in South Asia, this systematic review aims to...

Background: Following malaria elimination, Sri Lanka was free from indigenous transmission for six consecutive years, until the first introduced case was reported in December 2018. The source of transmission (index case) was a member of a group of 32 migrant workers from India and the location of transmission was their residence reporting a high p...

Introduction Transport, a well-recognised determinant of health, is particularly salient to well-being and equitable health outcomes amongst older people and people living with disabilities living in low-and middle-income countries. This study explored the facilitators and barriers for safe and accessible transportation from the perspectives of old...

Background: Despite being one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders, social phobia remains to be under-diagnosed. To date no instrument to measure social phobia in available in Sinhalese. Objective: to translate and validate the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale- self-rated (LSAS-SR) in to Sinhalese. Method: Translation and adaptation followed...

Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMS) is a company operating in Pulmoddai, Sri Lanka, mining for rare earth minerals along with monazite which contains thorium that emits ionizing gamma and alpha radiation on decay. The objective of the study was to determine the background radiation levels and selected radionuclides and then to correlate these levels with...

Objectives To explore the association of sickness absence ascribed to pain at specific anatomical sites with wider propensity to musculoskeletal pain. Methods As part of the CUPID (Cultural and Psychosocial Influences on Disability) study, potential risk factors for sickness absence from musculoskeletal pain were determined for 11 922 participants...

Background Following malaria elimination, Sri Lanka was free from indigenous transmission for six consecutive years, until the first introduced case was reported in December 2018. The source of transmission (index case) was a member of a group of 32 migrant workers from India and the location of transmission was their residence reporting a high pre...

Background Following malaria elimination, Sri Lanka was free from indigenous transmission for six consecutive years, until the first introduced case was reported in December 2018. The source of transmission (index case) was a member of a group of 32 migrant workers from India and the location of transmission was their residence reporting a high pre...

The cookstove determines the fuel type to be used for combustion. The amount of emission and composition of air pollutants is based on the fuel and cookstove type which is varied geographically. Combustion of solid fuel for cooking purpose is the key source of household air pollution in many developing countries leading to various adverse health im...

Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMS) is a company operating in Pulmoddai, Sri Lanka, mining for rare earth minerals along with monazite which contains thorium that emits ionizing gamma and alpha radiation on decay. The objective of the study was to determine the background radiation levels and selected radionuclides and then to correlate these levels with...

p class="abstract"> Background: In the current context of rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), simple low-cost screening tools are essential for identifying individuals who have glucose dysregulation at its early stages. Therefore, we developed and validated a screening tool for dysglycemia (defined as HbA_1c≥5.7%) with t...

Introduction and Objectives There is limited data on incidence of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from South Asia. We investigated incidence and predictors of T2DM in an urban, adult population, after seven-years of follow-up. Methods The study population, selected by age-stratified random sampling from the Ragama MOH area, was initially screened...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania donovani MON-37 is becoming a major public health problem in Sri Lanka, with 100 new cases per month being reported in endemic regions. Diagnosis of CL is challenging for several reasons. Due to relative specificity and rapidity we propose Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization as a diagnostic tool for...

Introduction: Fundamental to the success of preventive measures in diabetes mellitus, is disease-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). We aimed to assess KAP regarding type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), nutrition and lifestyle in a community-based population of newly diagnosed dysglycemic and normoglycemic women, unaware of their glycemi...

Abstract Malaria was eliminated from Sri Lanka in 2012, and the country received WHO-certification in 2016. The objective of this paper is to describe the epidemiology of malaria elimination in Sri Lanka, and the key technical and operational features of the elimination effort, which may have been central to achieving the goal, even prior to schedu...

Gamma spectrometry analytical determination of radiation levels in two selected areas of Sri Lanka This study compares radiation levels in water and soil in Norochcholai (closest to nuclear power plant, Kundankulam India) and Ragama (control) in Sri Lanka. 51 soil samples (25 from Norochcholai and 26 from Ragama) and 54 water samples (26 from Noroc...

Gamma spectrometry analytical determination of radiation levels in two selected areas of Sri Lanka

Introduction and Objectives There is limited knowledge on early predictors of mortality among Sri Lankans. We investigated predictors of mortality in the Ragama Health Study cohort 10 years after recruitment. Methods The study population (35-64-year-olds selected by age-stratified random sampling from the Ragama Medical Officer of Health area) was...

p class="abstract"> Background: Targeted strategies to enhance regular physical activity appear to be promising to promote health and well-being of adolescents. This article reports the design of a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity programme on the rate and duration of moderate-to-...

Introduction The impact of socioeconomic inequalities on health outcomes and service delivery is increasingly researched globally. This study assessed the overall and sector-wise socioeconomic inequality in postnatal home visits made by Public Health Midwives (PHMs) in Sri Lanka and decomposed the observed socioeconomic inequality into potential de...

Background: A detailed knowledge of the distribution of the malaria vectors in Mannar district of Sri Lanka has not been studied after 1927. Past records indicated the presence of only seven species of anophelines, namely, An. culicifacies, An. subpictus, An. barbirostris, An. peditaeniatus, An. nigerrimus, An. Jamesii, and An. maculatus. There ha...

Introduction While patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are mostly overweight or obese, some are lean. Methods In a community-based follow-up study (baseline and follow-up surveys performed in 2007 and 2014), we investigated and compared the clinical characteristics, body composition, metabolic associations and outcomes, and oth...

Mobility and social participation greatly enhance the well-being and quality of life of older adults. A rapid increase in older populations together with comorbidities in the process of ageing have important implications for transport policies globally, and especially in low-and-middle-income countries. This study aimed to explore older adults’ tra...

Road traffic crashes (RTC) and consequent injuries constitute a global threat to public health disproportionately borne by low-and-middle-income countries. With rapid urbanisation and increased motorisation, RTC is identified as one of the leading causes of death and injury in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to describe crash characteristics and patter...

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) has emerged as a significant public health problem in Sri Lanka. The role of environmental exposure to cadmium and arsenic in the aetiology of CKDu is still unclear. Identification of a panel of novel urinary biomarkers would be invaluable in the study of toxin mediated damage postula...

ASSESSMENT OF BACKGROUND FREQUENCY OF MICRONUCLEI FORMATION IN TWO SELECTED POPULATIONS IN SRI LANKA.

Background Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and some types of malignancies. The risk of these non-communicable diseases increases with increased body-mass index (BMI). 13% of the world’s population aged 18 years and over were obese, and 39% were overweight in 2014 (WHO estimates). The worldwide pre...

MICRONUCLEI FREQUENCY IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES USING CYTOKINESIS BLOCKED MICRONUCLEUS ASSAY AMONG SRI LANKANS: A PILOT STUDY. Tania Warnakulasuriya, ThiwankaWeerakkody, Mangala Dabarera, Kusum Rodrigo, Senani Williams, RajithaWickremasinghe Biodosimetry Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lan...

Cytokinesis blocked Micronucleus (MN) assay (CBMN) has been widely used to test for genotoxicity associated with chemical exposure and radiation exposure.1Establishing baseline MN levels for a population is important for interpretation of the results as spontaneous MN occur in cells undergoing cell division.2 The objective of the study was to deter...

Background Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Sri Lanka is caused by Leishmania donovani. This study assessed the diagnostic value of a new rapid diagnostic immunochromatographic strip (CL-Detect™ IC-RDT), that captures the peroxidoxin antigen of Leishmania amastigotes. Methodology/Principal findings We sampled 74 clinically suspected CL lesions, of...

Prototypical diagram to report flow of participants through the study. (DOCX)

Standards for reporting diagnostic accuracy studies. (DOC)

Introduction Obesity is a global problem. Data from the South Asian region is limited. Aims & Methods: In a cohort follow-up study we investigated obesity among urban, adult, Sri Lankans [selected by age-stratified random sampling from Ragama-MOH area, Gampaha District; initial screening 2007 (aged 35-64 years); re-evaluation 2014 (aged 42-71 year...

Background and aims In 2007, we reported a 38.9% prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in an urban, adult population. Published data on incident MetS from South Asia is lacking. This study investigated the incidence and risk factors for MetS after a 7-year follow-up of the initial cohort. Materials and methods The study population (selected by a...

Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMS), a government-owned company, has been mining mineral sands including monazite which contains thorium (Th) at Pulmoddai, Sri Lanka since 1957. Th emits alpha particles on decay and gamma rays are emitted by the daughter products. The cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (MN) assay is popular for large scale radiation exposu...

Background: Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. Methods: Data from a representative nation-wide community based household survey were used...

Introduction Obesity is a global problem. Data from the South Asian region is limited. Aims & Methods: In a cohort follow-up study we investigated obesity among urban, adult, Sri Lankans (35-64y; selected by age-stratified random sampling from Ragama-MOH area; initial screening 2007; re-evaluation 2014). On both occasions structured interview, ant...

Background Sri Lanka has been free from indigenous malaria since November 2012 and received the WHO certificate for malaria-free status in September 2016. Due to increased global travel, imported malaria cases continue to be reported in the country. Military personnel returning home from international peace-keeping missions in malaria endemic count...